Irony
by Y.K.Willstone
Summary: The man lies at the end of the battle. He hasn't got any time left. The Egghead Competition entry for team Hogwarts No6


Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the the former." - Albert Einstein

You see that man over there, the one lying lifeless by the pillar? The one with scarred and baggy clothing? The one who is going to die?

The man lies several feet away from the ongoing battle, head up to the sky, eyes glassy. You would have thought that given his position he's thinking about how great a same it is that he's going to die and that the world won't be the same without him there.

But the truth of the matter is, that those black eyes have just for the minute, gained the glassy blue colour of the sky. The colour that they'd once held many years ago.

Don't pity this man, the one lying prostate in front of you, this man has killed hundreds, torn families apart and has ruined the lives of so many people that he isn't sure how many hundreds he has damned. He can't remember all of the faces nor can he give many a name.

But he knows that he killed them.

Before all of that hate there had been a bright spark, a momentary flash of grassy green eyes in a world of silver black and blood. The name Amelia comes to his mind, easily stepping past the walls he had placed for so many years to stop them. She had been brilliant. Sarcastic, witty and yet oh so kind she had had his heart from the day he first met her.

He hadn't met her during the daytime, not really. But the night after his final journey from Hogwarts was just blurs of colours and calls for more drinks. He remembers that Lucius had taken Narcissa away for the night, probably to the best place that his parents wouldn't look for them - namely a muggle high end hotel. He had been engaged in a drinking game with one of his other cohorts when she had entered. He had looked at her and there had been a spark of electricity between the two of them so strong that he stumbled a little bit closer to her and heaving.

He can still remember throwing up on her shoes, there had been a minute of silence as the people around him, including his friends, assessed the situation in their heads. It didn't take long before all of his comrades had exited the pub leaving him to collapse on the floor in a puddle.

It was lucky that she had had a sense of humour, she had looked after him. She had sent him upstairs with the help of one of the other patrons at the pub, and had made sure that he had gotten into bed. When he had come around in the morning he found himself propped up among dozens of cushions and the sky was a bright red colour.

"Red sky in the morning," he had muttered under his breath.

There was a small noise as she had entered the room "Shepard's warning," she had smiled "You should get better friends."

-/\-

The man pauses his train of thought, the sounds of the battle have stopped and there was stillness in the courtyard. And then there were cheers.

Isn't that ironic?

That as soon as he gets free, he's going to die? He gives a small, almost final, chuckle and thinks "That could have been the theme of my life."

It really could have. The man that you see in front of you was once a great wizard, going places that nobody was going to dispute that he had earned. The job that he had started off on was in the office of "Control and Restriction of Dangerous Creatures" something that he was very proud of.

It was ironic that the day before he had started he was bitten by a werewolf.

He had just recovered from the blow and the fall from grace that had followed when there had been news of a new Dark Lord threatening to gain control of the wizarding world, he had laughed when Lucius had said that he was going to be joining the 'Death Eaters'.

He had told Amelia, that he loved her with all his heart the next day. She had looked at him and responded that she did too. He didn't think much about the dark lord or any wars, just love.

Isn't it ironic that his love was killed by the aurors in the crossfire of one of the dark lords attacks. She was shot at because she had been standing next to him in the middle of Diagon Ally, standing with him, a known werewolf. The aurors had just assumed the worst and shot at her.

She stood no chance. One spell to the heart was all it took to kill two.

When she had woken up in St Mungo's the following week she couldn't remember what had happened. She had looked at him not knowing what or who he was. She couldn't even remember what she was doing in England, the spell had been so powerful that she had forgotten that she had moved there after her parents deaths.

He had joined the dark lord after that. To let a muggle woman into his heart had caused him so much pain that he blamed her for it wholeheartedly. He had loved her and she had cut him in two.

He hated her.

He had hated her.

He still loved her.

Isn't it ironic that the first time he had allowed himself to love, they had forgotten him, that the first time he had opened himself up to the world the world had closed around him. Isn't it ironic that so much love could result in so much hate.

-/\-

The sky is red above him, so red that he is reminded of the first time that they met. He still loves her, you can see it in his eyes. In his face, he has never given up on her.

I never will.

"You just stumbled." I hear a voice to my right and turned to see who said it. There was a girl there, blond hair and blue eyes she repeated "You just stumbled."

"What do you mean?" I asked the girl, my voice croaky from its long reprieve from being used.

"You just lost your way."

"What do you really mean?"

"I don't mean anything sir, your lady friend, Amelia, she says that you just stumbled," the girl gives me a sympathetic smile. The type of smile that makes you want to scream at the person to make them leave you alone. I try to look menacing, try to scare this girl off. "She says that you just gave in to human stupidity."

I lay there, underneath the burning sky "How do you know what she would say? Not even I know that!" I snap at the girl and to her credit she doesn't flinch.

"She's waiting for you, on the other side. She says that she loves you."

"Prove it! If your telling me this falsely I'll..." I pause.

"Kill me?" She suggests, a smile gracing her lips. She waits a minute and then comments "Cushions."

I feel something in me change, I haven't got long left.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the the former." - How bloody right can you get?

I feel myself floating, getting higher and higher. I can hear voices, a pub, a smile. It's not ironic that I have to die now I'm saved. Now that the dark lord is dead.

Death is just moving on.

"Amelia."

"Fenrir."

"I love you."

"I know."


End file.
